You Don't Love Me
by Autumn Took
Summary: In the face of wild rumors and cheating boyfriends, Hermione begins learning things about Draco and starts to like him...maybe as more than a friend. Unfortunately, Lavender is there to mess everything up...again. DracoHermione
1. The Ball

You Don't Love Me

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All characters, places, etc, belong to J.K. Rowling and such, since I am not clever (or old) enough to think of such wonderful things. However, the plot _is_ mine. ***Pip! I can't believe I wrote this in 20 minutes!***

She ran down the garden path, not daring to look back, tears streaming down her face. What a scene she must have caused, but she didn't care. All that mattered was getting away from Ron, and getting away from him fast.

She tripped as she came to a clearing surrounded by tall hedges decorated with glowing fairies, and fell flat on her face. She barely noticed the blood dripping from her lips, as she lay, crying, not able to get up.

After a while of this, she slowly regained composure, and sat up, hugging herself. She wiped the tears off of her face and the blood from her lips, and got to her feet. She walked over to a bench near one side of the clearing and sat down, dusting off her dress robes, which were a midnight blue. 

She breathed deeply and rested her head on her palm, rethinking what had just happened and trying to figure out what to do about it.

She loved Ron, or had, there was no doubt about that, but now she wasn't so sure. What had he _done_? All she could remember was slapping Lavender and running

~*~Earlier~*~

"Just wait until he sees you in this, he'll think you're absolutely gorgeous!" Ginny squealed, unable to hold in her excitement. "I always knew you two would hit it off!"

Hermione flushed. "Thanks Ginny, thanks for helping me pick this one out, I'm so glad I told you, you're so understanding, it helps so much."

She stood up, fanning out her beautiful new dress robes, that were a deep midnight blue with a V-neck lined with black velvet. Her hair was up in a bun, with ringlets falling all around and two strands loose in the front. 

"Well, we better go, we don't want to be late. And Ginny," she added, "You look gorgeous as well"

Ginny smiled and blushed. "Thanks, HermioneDo you thinkum, Harrywill think so?"

Hermione giggled. "Of course, now let's get going!"

They slowly descended the stairs from their dormitories and met their dates in the common room. Ron, Hermione's wonderful boyfriend of five weeks exactly, took Hermione's hand and whispered in her ear, "You look absolutely beautiful tonight."

She blushed. He didn't look too bad himself. He was in the new dress robes that Fred and George had bought for him, which were a dark red, and his flaming red hair was spiked. "Thank you," she whispered back.

Harry and Ginny walked together beside them, as they made their way to the Great Hall. Since last year's Yule Ball was such a success, Dumbledore decided to hold various balls throughout the year. This one was the Halloween Ball, and took place on Halloween night, and was mixed with the feast. 

They made their way down the staircase to the Entrance Hall, where they met up with Lavender Brown and her date, Dean Thomas, waiting for the doors to open. 

"Wow, Hermione, those robes are divine!" she gushed when she saw Hermione. Although she wasn't her _best_ friend, Lavender was one of Hermione's roommates and a good friend to her. What Hermione hadn't known, however, was that Lavender was as in love with Ron as she herself was. 

The doors suddenly opened to reveal the Great Hall. As they walked through, Hermione took in the spooky decorations. 

The tables had once again been replaced with a lot of smaller circular tables that were draped with black and orange tablecloths. There were all sorts of candy and caramel apples on top of the tables, and all of them were set with the gold plates and cups usual for the feast. Fake spider webs (she hoped) were hung on all the walls and all around the staff table. The Hall was dimly lit with Jack-O-Lanterns, and all the ghosts were flying around the room, accompanied by the usual swarm of live bats. 

Ron tugged on Hermione's hand. "Come on, Hermes, we'll get that table over there," he said, pointing to a table as far away from the staff table as could be managed. 

The six of them walked over, accompanied by Lavender's best friend, Parvati, and her date Seamus. 

Ron pulled out a chair for Hermione, and she took it and thanked him. He sat down next to her and looked across the table to Lavender, who had a mischievous twinkle in her eye. He smiled, and looked away.

"Attention, everyone, attention," Dumbledore said over the excited chatter. Everyone quieted down. "I would just like to say thank you to our band, who will begin after the feast, and also to say, 'Dig in!'" And with that the delicious food appeared on the table. 

After everyone had eaten to his or her full extent, Dumbledore announced the band that had magically appeared on the stage on the left side of the room; three girls dressed up as black cats.

Ron held out a hand to Hermione. "Want to dance?" he asked in what she had mistaken to be a shy tone, but she realized now that it was an almost weary tone. She nodded and took his hand. 

About a half-hour later, as they were dancing to an extremely up-beat song, Lavender came over and started whispering to Ron in his ear. Hermione looked strangely at them. As Lavender finished saying whatever it was that she had said, Ron nodded and she walked off. 

Ron looked wearily over at Hermione, then said, "Hermes, we need to talk." He motioned for her to follow him out into the garden. She did so, wondering what could possibly be happening.

They came out into the beautifully decorated clearing right outside of the large oak front doors. Ron stopped walking, making Hermione stop as well. 

He took her hands in his and massaged them lovingly. "Hermione," he said in a low voice, "This isn't working for me. We can't see each other anymore."

She gaped at him, feeling a sharp pain in her heart. "What? You can't be serious, I mean, why?" She felt the tears starting to well up in her eyes. 

He looked down into her creamy brown eyes. "Well, me and someone elsehave beentogether a lot lately and II love her. I'm so sorry Hermione, I just don't want to lead you on like this."

Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What are you saying? Y-you've been cheating on me? Howwhy?" Tears were creeping down her face now, and she was about ready to run away, when she heard a voice to her left, coming from the door. 

"Did you tell her, Ron?" Lavender asked, coming up to them. Hermione looked at her incredulously. "YouI can't believe you would" She broke down crying. Ron moved to comfort her, but Lavender stopped him. 

"No, don't. Let's go dance, babe," she said, still looking at Hermione. Hermione looked up at Ron one last time before slapping her across the face and running for her life.

~*~Now~*~

She looked up suddenly as she heard someone walking into the clearing where she was. _Please, don't let it be Ron_she thought.

But it wasn't. To her surprise, and extreme disgust, it was Draco Malfoy. 

She stood up quickly, trying to cover the fact that she had been crying; she didn't think she could take any snide remarks right about now.

But she got them anyway. "What are you doing out here, Granger? Shouldn't you be dancing with the poor Weasel?"

She looked down at her feet, trying not to cry, for he hadn't really insulted her anyway; yet. "No, I shouldn't. Ron and I-" Her voice caught in her throat, threatening to break. "Ron and I broke up."

Not that this was the best thing to say right about now, with Draco sneering the way he does, but it was the truth. "Really?" he asked, actual astonishment in his voice, "How utterly sad. I'm sure he finally realized that he was dating a Mudblood and didn't want to dishonor his poor father anymore."

That did it. Tears started dripping down Hermione's face, and she made no attempt to remove or hide them. She just looked down at the ground, waiting for more insults. But they didn't come.

Draco's eyes narrowed, looking at Hermione in shock. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you c-cry," he mumbled, making Hermione look up at him, shock evident on her face as well.

"You? Sorry? Yeah rightI'll bet you'd love to make me cry, you've done it before, nothing new. Go on, tell me that I'm a Mudblood; tell me that I don't matter and should be thrown out of school. It doesn't matter anymore," she said, throwing up her hands in exasperation. "Nothing matters anymore"

Draco looked up at her, an expression of guilt on his face. "I" he started.

"Shut up, Malfoy. Just, go. Leave me alonego away!" And with that, she broke into tears and ran once more down the path, towards the castle. 

Draco sighed and went over to the bench where she had been sitting. He sat down on it and looked up at the starlit sky. _Why am I such a jerk?_ He asked himself. He looked down to the bench and saw two fairies staring up at him, giggling at each other. He smiled and took them up in his hand. They stared at him for a moment, giggling with delight, before flying away and landing in a bush to pose as decorations. 

Hermione ran back to the school, but stopped when she got to the place just before the clearing, because it was already occupied by Ron and Lavender. 

"It still hurts!" whined Lavender, rubbing her cheek. "I can't believe that stupid Mudblood slapped me!" 

Ron put his arms around her waist and looked into her face. "Well, let me make it better," he said mischievously and started kissing her cheek. 

Hermione groaned and sat on the ground, listening to the slow song that was emitting from the Great Hall:

This is the place where I sit

This is the part where I love you too much

Is this as hard as it gets?

'Cause I'm getting tired of pretending I'm tough

I'm here if you want me

I'm yours, you can hold me

I'm empty and achin' and tumbling and breakin'

'Cause you don't see me

And you don't need me 

And you don't love me

The way I wish you would

The way I know you could

I dream a world where you understand

But I dream a million sleepless nights

Oh I dream of fire when you're touching my hand

But it twists into smoke when I turn on the lights

I'm speechless and faded

It's too complicated

Is this how the book ends?

Nothing but good friends

'Cause you don't see me

And you don't need me 

And you don't love me

The way I wish you would

The way I know you could

As the song ended, she got the feeling that someone was staring at her, and looked up to see that Draco was a few feet away, looking down at her with a concerned look. 

"How many times must I tell you to leave me alone?" she moaned, a little too loud, since Lavender and Ron looked up, startled. 

Draco still looked somber, and didn't say anything.

Lavender and Ron came over to where the path met the clearing, and Lavender jumped at Hermione. "HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE, YOU STUPID IDIOTIC MUDBLOOD?!" she shouted, with Ron holding her back from hitting Hermione.

Hermione looked at her, startled. Apparently she hadn't expected one of her best friends to lash out and try to kill her; but she hadn't really expected any of the things that had happened that night, least of all that someone wanted to kill her.

She shrugged. "Not long," she said in a would-be calm voice.

Lavender jumped out of Ron's arms. "That's what you're gonna be wishing in a second!" she screamed.

Hermione held her arms up over her head, to protect herself from Lavender's fist, but Lavender aimed right, and whacked her straight on the nose.

Everything went black

Author's Notes: Terrible, I know, I need someone to review to tell me just how terrible it is! Should I keep going or should I stop right now so as not to ruin poor HP?????


	2. Visitors

You Don't Love Me-Chapter 2

"You don't think it's broken, do you Professor McGonagall?"

"No, and even if it was, Madame Pomfrey could mend it in a minute. We'll just have to wait till she wakes up."

"Oh, good, I was afraid something really bad was going to happen."

"So, Ms. Brown, who was it that hit her, anyway?"

"It was that slimy Slytherin, Draco Malfoy! He crept up behind her and just hit her on the nose!"

Hermione's eyes fluttered open, and she looked around the room, trying to regain her senses. "Was not" she whispered.

Professor McGonagall came over to the bed where she lay. "What did you say, dear?" 

"I said, Malfoy didn't hit meLavender did" she said, closing her eyes again, and breathing slowly. Her nose was pulsing, and it felt like it _had_ been broken. 

Professor McGonagall didn't get to respond. "Oh, good, she's awake. Now, excuse me Professor, but I need to take care of my patient now. She'll be back in the morning, don't worry."

Professor McGonagall and Lavender were ushered out of the room by Madame Pomfrey, who came back over to her bed. "Now, dear, if you'll just sit up, I'll put this heating strip on you're nose and give you some of this potion, then we'll let Miss Weasley in to see you. She's been waiting for you to wake up."

Hermione smiled and sat up a little bit, leaning against the back of her bed for comfort. Madame Pomfrey gave her some potion that smelled of cherry and tasted similar. She applied a heating strip to her nose that looked like that thing that you put on your nose and then tear it off to get rid of blackheads (Sorry for my terminology, I'm not a beauty expert!). 

As she finished drinking the remainder of the potion, Ginny burst through the door, accompanied by Harry. Hermione winced at the thought of what she was going to tell them. She couldn't very well tell Ginny that her brother had been cheating on her and then her brother's girlfriend hit her. And she didn't want to lie and say that Draco hit her. But luckily she didn't have to.

"Hermione, are you OK? We've been trying to see you forever! Ron told us all about what that slimy git Malfoy did! Why did he do it, 'Mione?" Harry said, as he came running over. 

Hermione smiled. She still didn't want to lie, but she could see no way around it. "I don't know what happened, really. I was just sitting there and then a big knuckle rammed into my nose and I blacked out." There, that worked. "What are they giving him for it?"

"50 points from Slytherin and TWO detentions!" Ginny said triumphantly. "Isn't it wonderful!"

Hermione smiled again, but on the inside she was cursing Lavender. She didn't really think anyone would believe her if she told them that Lavender had did it, not Malfoy, and the only way Lavender or Ron would tell was if that had been given a draught of Snape's truth serum. 

"So where's Ron?" Hermione asked, eager to hear what the answer was. 

Ginny shrugged. "I think he's still at the Ball, it's not over till midnight. He didn't want to comeis there something wrong with you guys?"

Hermione looked away. "Yeah, hebroke up with me. I don't know why, really. He just said it wasn't working out." 

She looked sharply at Harry to see if he had known anything about Lavender, and sure enough his face showed that he was ashamed of something, like a kid caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Ginny looked at Harry and noticed this as well.

"Harry? You know why, don't you? Tell me, Harry," she said in a voice that meant she wanted to know that very second.

Harry glanced at the floor then up at Hermione. "Him and Lavender have been seeing each other since the end of last year. When you asked him out, he was still in love with you and said yes, then he told Lavender and Lavender said it was fine, but he had to break up with you tonight. After a while, he said he was going to feel bad for breaking your heart, yet he wanted to be with Lavender. I'm not sure if he was lying or not. Sorry, 'Mione," he said, slowly.

Ginny gaped at him. "And you're just telling her this now? What kind of friend are you?" she said, half in anger, half in amusement, for which Hermione was very thankful, since if it had been all in anger, she probably would have burst out crying; but instead she laughed.

"Thanks, Harry, but I already knewthat they had been seeing each other, but not about the rest of it. Ron told me when he broke up with me. So, I guess that's it. I don't know if it'll ever be the same between us. And Lavender" she stopped herself. Was she going to tell them that Draco had not hit her, and it was Lavender? She didn't think they'd believe her, so she chose against it. "Let's just say I _know _things will never be the same between us."

Madame Pomfrey came back in. "Why don't you two go back down to the Ball? Definitely more fun than hanging around up here." 

Harry and Ginny laughed. "Well, we were just gonna go back to the common room after this," Harry said.

"Oh, Ginny, will you get my Lord of the Rings book? I want to see what happens to Pippin!" Hermione said. (A/N: I am as obsessed with The Lord of the Rings as I am with Harry Potter, so you'll have to excuse me for all of my outbursts about it, m'kay?) 

Ginny laughed. "Sure, Hermes!" she said, before they got up and went back to their common room.

About an hour later, as she was lost with Merry and Pippin in Fangorn Forest, someone else came in to see her. It was nearly eleven then, and most people were still at the dance, or up in the common room. 

She looked up from The Two Towers and frowned. It was Ron.

"What do you want?" she asked, a bit nastily, but could you blame her?

He looked a little hurt, but not surprised. "I came to make sure you were alright."

Hermione rolled her eyes and put down the book. "Really, I'm just fine. Lavender about broke my nose, but I'm just fine."

Ron came over and sat down on one of the chairs next to the bed that Harry and Ginny had left. "Look, I'm really sorry about that. Please don't tell anyone, let them think Malfoy did it."

Hermione sighed. "Ron, no offense, but I really don't feel like lying to the Professors, and what makes you think I'm gonna stick up for Lavender, huh?"

"Well, why would you stick up for Malfoy? At least let them take points off Slytherin and not Gryffindor, that's not fair to the rest of us!"

"Ron! Bugger off! I really don't care what house wins the cup! Malfoy shouldn't get TWO detentions when he deserves none! Now go away!"

Ron looked at Hermione one last time. "Come now. If someone asks, tell the truth. Otherwise, let rumors flow. That's all I'm asking," he said, then got up and left.

Hermione sighed and started reading again. 

Author's Notes: Alright, I'm really sorry!!!!!! This chapter isn't even half the length of the last chapter, but I'm surprised I got it up at all! I currently have three fics going, and it's not easy to do that plus you're bloody Algebra homework! (DIE MR. BROWN!!!!!) *panting* sorry about thatas always R&R and I promise if I get LOTS of reviews I'll have the next chapter up by Thursday!

With Love,

~*~Autumn Took~*~


	3. Morning Again

You Don't Love Me-Chapter 3

Disclaimer: If any of the characters or places in here belonged to me, then I wouldn't have to write a disclaimer, now would I?

The next morning Hermione woke up with a completely healed nose, and felt absolutely horrible. Why did she have to get up? It was a Friday (since this year Halloween IS on a Thursday), and she really didn't feel like going to her classes, which consisted of Potions (which really didn't need explaining why she didn't want to go there), Defense Against the Dark Arts (which was being taught this year by a Professor Bingham, who surprisingly had the same I.Q. as a water buffalo *in mating season*), and Care of Magical Creatures (which she didn't want to go to because of the 'magical creature' they were currently 'caring' for *Mackled Malaclaws*). 

But Madame Pomfrey wouldn't hear of it. "Come now, deary, you'll want to get a head start off to your dorm, you still have an hour and a half before your first class. Go on now, hurry up." 

Hermione changed back into her dress robes, and hurried up to her dorm, not wanting anyone to see her still in them. She ran up to the common room and up the staircase and was just about to go in when she heard Ron's voice coming from inside.

"Lavender, come on, Hermione is my friend, I don't want her to find us like this!"

"Oh, Ron, she's not even _here_!" came Lavender's reply.

"I don't care, she will be any second. Now listen, she's not going to say anything unless–"

"'Unless?' There's an 'unless'?"

"Well she doesn't want to lie to the Professors."

"Great, in that case, Ron, go away."

"Hey! You didn't have to hit her, you just chose–"

"Ron! Go away!"

She heard Ron sigh. "Fine, see you at breakfast"

She had just enough time to step back from the door before Ron flung it open. He had a look of annoyance on his face, until he looked up and saw Hermione standing there. He gave her a look of realization, then regret, and started to say something when Hermione walked passed him and closed the door.

"Good morning, Hermione, is your nose OK? Did Malfoy break it?" Lavender asked when she saw Hermione enter the room. 

Hermione looked up at her in shock. "Lavender? WTF is your problem?"

Lavender rolled her eyes, grabbed her bag, and went out the door.

Parvati was still asleep, so she didn't hear all the naughty words that came pouring out of Hermione's mouth after Lavender had left. 

"Ugh," Hermione sighed, and went down to the showers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She met up with Harry down in the common room later on, and they walked out to the Great Hall for breakfast, not waiting for Ron, since Hermione said she had a sneaking suspicion that he was already there. Harry didn't ask why. 

They walked into the Great Hall and sure enough they found Ron sitting next to Lavender and Parvati (who had really been awake since Ron had first come in.).

Harry started going over to where they were sitting, but when he noticed Hermione walking in a different direction, stopped and joined her to find Ginny. They found her near the back of the table sitting with Neville Longbottom.

After breakfast, which had absolutely no more conflict, Harry and Ginny walked with Hermione down to the dungeons for Potions. As they got to the place where you turned left for Potions, right for Transfiguration (where Ginny was headed), Harry gave Ginny her first kiss.

Hermione looked away as they were kissing. She didn't want to be reminded of missing that. Harry and Ginny pulled apart and said goodbye, and Ginny started walking away.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" asked Harry.

"Nothing, not a thing, I'm fine, let's go. I really feel like looking at Snape first thing in the morning" 

Harry shrugged and followed Hermione the rest of the way to Potions.

A/N: This was supposed to be longer, but I had an idea so I had to make the next chapter the next chapter, so this is the end of this chapter. The next one will be up right after this one!


	4. Potions

You Don't Love Me

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: *points to her computer* You see this? This is mine! Harry Potter and Co. are not!

Draco glanced up from his cauldron as Hermione and Harry walked in. He wasn't exactly sure what he felt about the whole ordeal, but he wasn't going to stand for DOUBLE detention AND 50 points from Slytherin just because he happened to be standing nearby when Lavender hit Hermione. 'Please,' he thought, 'please just let her tell someone that I didn't do it.'

Hermione and Harry went to their usual seats at the back of the class. Hermione sat down and immediately started writing on a sheet of paper. Draco watched Harry glance strangely at the piece of paper, then watched Hermione tell him off for it. He wondered what she was writing

After a minute or two, Hermione stopped writing and folded the paper. She got up from her seat and, to everyone's amazement, walked over to Draco and deposited the note on his table. His eye's widened and he looked at her strangely. Hermione smiled weakly, mouthed 'Sorry' and walked away.

Draco stared down at the note for a minute more, before finally getting up the nerve to open it and read what it said.

**********************

Hermione smiled and walked back to her seat. Harry looked at her strangely again, and was just about to ask what it was all about when Snape made his grand entrance.

"Good morning class, I'm assuming you all have done your homework and read chapter eighteen in _Magical Drafts and Potions_. Please get out your outlines and turn them in to me," he said in his usual suave voice.

Hermione smiled again and took out her outline, making Harry gape.

"Hermione, he didn't want 3 feet of parchment!" he whispered loudly (A/N: Was that proper English?).

Hermione laughed. "But I couldn't understand what he DID want, so I just gave him what I thought he might like!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Whatever" he sighed, taking out his 8 inch parchment. 

************************

__

Malfoy,

Sorry about the whole Lavender and Ron thing, you shouldn't have gotten detention. I promised Ron I wouldn't tell the professors unless they asked. If you want to, you could get Professor Snape to ask me, I'd tell the truth. 

Also, don't ask me why I'm being so nice to you, I think just because I'm pissed at Lavender and I want to get back at her. Thanks for, er, caring. 

Yours truly,

Hermione Granger

************************

"Longbottom! How many times must I tell you, the powdered newt goes in AFTER the shredded fig!" Draco yelled at Neville. Snape had paired them up for punishment for loosing Slytherin so many points so early in the year. 

"Oops," Neville sighed as the cauldron in front of him started emitting green sparks and sizzling. 

Snape ran over to where the two were stationed. "He put in the powdered newt first. 10 points from Gryffindor, Longbottom." He smirked, and walked off to criticize Parvati and Harry. 

Draco sighed. There were times in his life where he felt like the Slytherin he was, and other timesother times he wondered if he was in the wrong house. 

As much as he was like his father, that's how much UN-like his father he was. Sometimes he felt like he was in the right place, but there was always this feeling of incompleteness deep inside of him. He couldn't explain it, he just knew there was something missing. 

*************************

"RIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG," went the bell.

Everyone filed out up the stairs from the dungeon. Everyone, that is, except for Hermione. Draco hadn't told like she hoped he would.

'Come on, breathe. You have to do this. It isn't right,' her brain argued.

'But he's just a Slytherin git and Lavender's your friend. So let them take 50 points from Slytherin. Let them give him double detention. He deserves it.'

'But he didn't DO anything! No, I'm going to tell, and I'm going to tell now.'

She sighed, as the last student walked out the door. She walked up to Snape's desk and cleared her throat. He looked up from the sheet of parchment he had been writing on.

"What is it, Ms. Granger?" he asked.

"Um," she said nervously, "I need to tell you something. Well, actually not YOU in particular, but someone, a professor, at least, and–"

"Ms. Granger, is there a point you're getting at?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes!" she said in a rush. "Um, the point is that, that Draco didn't hit me. It wasit was Lavender Brown. Draco was just standing near me. And you should tell Professor Dumbledore to give back the 50 points, and to take away his double detention."

Snape raised the eyebrow again. "And why didn't you tell anyone this before?" he asked maliciously.

Hermione frowned, a bit upset. "Well, because I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, and II wanted to tell you because I knew you'd believe me," she lied quickly.

Snape smirked. "Very well. I shall tell Professor Dumbledore. Now run along to your next class."

Hermione nodded and ran out the door. 'Well, that wasn't so bad.' 'You idiot'

A/N: Ok, what I MUST do now, is thank SophieBabe PROFOUNDLY because you've reviewed every chapter so far and it makes me HAPPY!!!!!!!! *cough, cough* anyways, I promise next chapter longer, hopefully, but, whatever


	5. Punishments

You Don't Love Me

Chapter 5

By: Autumn Took

A/N: YAY! Look, it's Chapter 5! I'm so happy! People reviewed! I actually have over 20 reviews! Well, for some people this isn't saying much, but this is my FIRST HP fic, and it makes me so happy that people like it! THANKS SO MUCH! I LOVE ALL MY WONDERFUL REVIEWERS! HERE, HAVE CANDY! *throws candy* HAVE MONEY! *throws money* HAVE MAGICAL JONES SODA THAT TURNS YOU INTO YOUR FAVORITE LOTR CHARACTER! *throws magical Jones soda* Erm, don't ask about that oneAnyways, THANKS!

Disclaimer: Um, I own some underwear, some socks, a couple shirts, and this computer, but I never have and never will own any of the BEAUTIFUL HP characters/places. Those are all J. K. Rowling's. 

And now, on with the story! (even though I am sick and should be at school or doing my Algebra homework)

"Draco Malfoy, my office immediately. Lavender Brown, Hermione Granger, you as well. Come now, hurry up!" 

Hermione glanced at Draco, who looked stunned beyond all reason. Lavender looked ready to kill, and Professor McGonagall, who was now leading them to her office away from the Entrance Hall, looked extremely displeased. 

There had been a bit of ahow should I say thisin the Entrance Hall on the way to lunch, involving the three students. Although Hermione and Draco came out of it unscathed, Lavender was now nursing a bloody nose. (A/N: For you, SophieBabe!) 

Hermione couldn't help but smile. She knew she was in for a punishment like none other that she had gotten, but she also knew that Lavender was in a worse fix. She had lied to the Professors, and had gotten away with it. But Hermione wasn't going to let her get away this time. She only regretted a little bit what she was doing because of Ron. She had promised not to tell unless asked, and she had broken that promise, and he might get in trouble as well, but she still wanted Lavender to die, and this was the only way to handle such matters.

She followed Professor McGonagall all the way up to her office, and they all filed in through the door. Professor McGonagall sat down behind her desk and motioned for the three to sit in front of her, which they did.

"Now, what exactly is going on between you three? Miss Granger, I thought you and Miss Brown were friends. What happened?"

Lavender was about to start talking, but Hermione interrupted. "Well, you see, Professor, Lavender has never been my friend. She was the one that hit me Halloween night, not Malfoy. And today she tried to attack me but I hit her first. I thought she was my friend, but she's not."

Lavender, again, tried to say something in her defense, but this time Draco intervened. "You see, Professor, I was only standing nearby on Halloween, and today I helped Hermione again. Hermione and I are good friends now, aren't we, 'Mione?"

Hermione smiled. "The best," she said, making Professor McGonagall's mouth drop open, something that both found highly amusing. Surely the Head Slytherin Git and the Smartest Gryffindor Nerd could never be friends!

But they had found a common interest; hating Lavender, which both of them did spectacularly. 

Professor McGonagall quickly resumed her displeased face, and said, "Now, students, if I am to believe all of this, it would back up what I took to be a lie from Professor Snape, who told me Miss Granger told him that Mr. Malfoy was innocent. If you all are telling the truth, I would like to hear Miss Brown's point of view." Now she turned to Lavender.

All eyes looked at her, and she turned desperately searching for someone to back up her lie, and when she found none, she looked down at her shoes, and sobbed, "They are telling the truth. Today I tried to hit her, but Malfoy stopped me and she hit me."

Professor McGonagall sighed. "I was afraid of this. All right, Mr. Malfoy, you may have 75 points for Slytherin, I am sorry but you must still attend the detention. I am not mad at you, but rules are rules. But you need attend only one, Miss Granger will join you, since you seem to be such great friends, and I'll think of something easy for the two of you to do." She again turned toward Lavender. "As for you, I am giving you Mr. Malfoy's original punishment, and adding today I should say another 25 points. Miss Granger, you need only attend the detention tomorrow night with Mr. Malfoy because of today. That is all, you may go to lunch."

Hermione looked around at the others. She was so happy about all that had happened that day. Draco and her were friends at last, Lavender was getting double detention, and Harry and Ginny were no where to be found. 'What a wonderful, sweet, magical world we live in' she thought.

As soon as they got out of the office Lavender broke out into a run, apparently running for lunch or something. 

Draco laughed. "God, she must be hungry!" he said jokingly.

Hermione turned and looked at him. "Draco Malfoy, I never thought that you could be nice to me. What happened?" She said this with a serious face.

He stopped laughing and looked at her as well. "Well, you would never believe it" he started. When Hermione raised an eyebrow, he continued. "The truth is, house elves were my downfall. Father got another one last summer and beat it to death. It was so sad that I actually cried. And I realized that you were right about them. Then I thought about it and realized that you had been right about everything. I wanted to be in your group of friends. I hated my life, and I thought for sure that all the terrorizing that I had done to you three would surely not help much with what I wanted. I regretted it all, and I still do. I'm sorry about everything I ever said to you, about you, or to or about Potter and Weasley. And, I am really sorry that I ever called you a Mudblood. I realize now how much that hurt you. I am terribly sorry about all of it, but most of all that. I'm glad we can be friends now."

Hermione smiled. That was a lot to take in, but it all made sensesort of. Wow, how nice it would be to be best friends with the cutest guy at Hogwarts. Where to start

"Hermione," said a tired voice behind her. "Hermione, what are you doing?"

A/N: TADA! Does anybody like it?


	6. What Happened?

You Don't Love Me

Chapter 6

A/N: I'm having so much fun writing this! *skipping around maniacally* People like it! *stops skipping* PEOPLE LIKE IT! *amazed face* PEOPLE BLOODY LIKE IT!!!!!!!! *feints* 

Disclaimer: Um*sweatdrop* Do I really have to say this? *disapproving nod from mother* *sigh* Ok, fineI am poor, I own nothing, WHY MUST YOU MAKE ME SAY THIS?!?!?!?! IT MAKES ME SO SAD!! *crying*

P.S.: I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TA WRITE THIS! IT'S ALL MY MUM'S FAULT! I GOT GROUNDED!

*cough, cough* Anyways, on with the

Hermione whipped around to see Ginny standing there, with a look of pure shock on her face. 

"What are you doing?" she asked, in a freaky tone. 

Hermione looked her straight in the eye. Not even she was sure what she was doing, hanging around with the enemy and all, but she had to admit that Draco had helped her kick Lavender's @$$ earlier, so she wanted to stand up for him. "Um, I am talking to Draco," she said simply. 

Draco smiled. She had used his first name. 

Ginny looked disgusted. "I can see that" she said slowly. "But why?"

Hermione gave her a half smile. She was about to respond, when the bell rang for her next class to begin. "Well, got to go to Care of Magical Creatures! See ya later!"

Draco grabbed her arm and dragged her off away from Ginny, back into the entrance hall. There they found Ron crying into Harry's shoulder. 

Hermione gasped when she saw this and stopped walking. "Ron!" she yelled, starting to run to where the two were near the entrance to the Great Hall. 

Ron looked up with tearstained eyes to Hermione. (A/N: Well, actually he looked down, but it sounds weird to say he looked down to Hermione andyeah.) "Are you talking to me now, Hermes?" he asked, in a terribly sad voice. "After what I did to you, why would you still talk to me?"

Hermione got to where he was, trying to find an answer to the terrible question. She tried over and over but she just couldn't get what she wanted to say out over her tongue. Instead, she just jumped at him and hugged him, hard. 

He started crying again, right into her shoulder, and she let him. She wasn't mad at him anymore. She was just so sorry that he was like this, and she wanted to cheer him up enough to know why. 

"I'm so sorry, Hermione, sorry for everything, just so sorry" he sobbed, over and over again. "I am so sorry"

"It's OK, Ron, it's all right, just cheer up. Stop crying, I forgive you." She looked up to see Harry and Draco staring each other down. "Stop it, you two!" They quickly looked away.

Ron pulled away and wiped his tears off. Hermione tried to casually dry her robes. She smiled up at him, tears showing glistening in her eyes as well. "So, what's the matter with you, anyway?"

Ron threw his hands up in the air in a sort of I-give-up gesture. "Lavender broke up with me It's not that big a deal anymore, I was just so upset that you were mad at me and that she was mad at me and Harry was mad at me and I just couldn't take it anymore."

Hermione looked at him strangely. She wasn't sure how she felt about him. She didn't want to be mad at him, and deep down inside she knew she wasn't, but on the surface she knew she had a reason to be. Yet all she really wanted was for everyone to be happy, and she knew that was totally impossible if she was still mad at Ron. So she gave in to herself. "Well, I'm awfully sorry about you and Lavender, and I want you to know that I'm sorry for anything I've ever done to you to make you mad at me, and I also want you to know that I forgive you wholeheartedly. Just cheer up, and walk me to Hagrid's!" she said smiling, and grabbed onto his arm, leaving Harry and Draco staring after them. They both turned to each other quickly and exchanged venomous looks. 

She started walking, then turned back around to see what the two were up to. "You know, if you two don't watch it, you're going to stare holes through each other. If we all want to be friends, then you're just gonna have to try not to do that. I don't want any holy friends, thank you."

Harry looked at her strangely. "Are you mad? Do you seriously think that we want to be _his_ friend? What's gotten into you? Why are you being so nice to _him_ all of a sudden?"

Hermione looked blankly around her at the three staring faces. Draco was wearing a bemused expression, Ron was wearing a yeah-what-is-your-problem expression, and Harry was wearing a well-I'm-waiting expression. She wasn't sure what she was going to say. She wasn't sure what was going on at all. All she knew was that the late bell had just rung and she was now late for Care of Magical Creatures.

She sighed and said, "Look, I don't know what to do about all of you. You all seem to loathe each other. Actually, it's just you two loathing him. You might be interested to know that he's changed quite a bit over the summer, and that you all might do with taking a leaf out of his book. At least _he_ didn't let his girlfriend call me a–" But she didn't finish her sentence. All three of them were looking at her like they couldn't believe what she was saying.

Harry and Ron glanced at each other, then both walked out the doors to Hagrid's together. Draco looked at her, then shook his head and walked away. Before she knew it she was standing by herself in the Entrance Hall, not exactly sure what had just happened.

She sighed and walked out the front doors, a bit lost, a bit confused, and a bit hurt. What had just happened?

A/N: Yeah, it's short, but it's also like 2 in the morning and I have to go to bed now. Since I have a four day weekend, the next chapter should be coming up extremely soon. I don't think anyone's gonna like this chapter, but if you do please say so


	7. It Was All A Dream

You Don't Love Me

Chapter 7

Author's Note: Hello all! I'm back! I am extremely sorry about that long absence, but I had a bunch of other things to do! This chapter is short, I know, but I promise to have the next chapter up within a week! Also, sorry I didn't get to do this before, HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A MERRY NEW YEAR! Or something like that

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. At all. I'm so poor! Wah! ::breaks out into tears–again::

Hermione shuffled quickly down to Care of Magical Creatures. What was with everyone? How come everyone was acting so weird? She didn't understand. She knew that she was probably in a lot of trouble with the school, and with her friends, and Draco, so she really didn't feel like such a dreadful Care of Magical Creatures class.

Suddenly, she slipped, and fell, and to her surprise kept fallingand fallingand falling, until she sat straight up in the middle of the night in the hospital wing.

'What the frell?' (Thanks a lot, Dersi/Tersa!) she thought, looking around. 'That could not have been a dream! No frellin' way!' (Ack! I'll kill you two! Look what you did!)

Distressed, and a little disappointed, she slowly laid back down. 'And to think, Malfoy could have been all mine' Her eyes widened. 'What am I thinking? If none of that ever happened, then he is just the same he ever was. Don't start treating him differently just because of some whacked out dream.' 

She stared up at the ceiling for a couple of seconds, before slowly falling back to sleep

The next morning she woke up, and nearly screamed at the sight of Draco Malfoy's face only inches away from hers. His eyes widened as he saw her awake. "Sorry!" he said hurriedly as she sat up quickly and pushed herself all the way against the wall.

"What the hell are you doing here, Malfoy?" she asked with a scowl on her face. 

He looked offended. "Jeez, Granger, when someone comes to see how you are, you shouldn't attack them like that!"

She willed herself to believe that the dream had never happened, and he was not really a great guy on the inside. "Why would you come to see how I am?" she asked.

At this, he blushed. "I just wanted to say sorry," he mumbled. 

Her eyes widened. 'Wait a sec,' she thought. 'What's going on?' "Sorry for what?"

He looked at the ceiling. "Well, actually, sorry for calling you a Mudblood. All those times. And sorry for making fun of you. All those times. And, well, just sorry in general. Look, you don't have to accept, but I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry." And with that, he turned around and walked out of the hospital wing. 

She raised a brow at his retreating form, then looked at her watch. It was really early, so she could still make it all the way back to Gryffindor Tower, take a shower, get dressed, and eat breakfast with Ron and Harry. She winced, thinking about Ron. If it was only a dream, then they were still fighting, and Ron and Lavender were still going out. She sighed, and got out of bed, ready for another fun-filled day in the life of her.

A/N: Alright, alright, I am really sorry. I have to end this here cause my mom is yelling at me to go to bed. Love ya all, and once again I promise to have the next chapter up within a week. And it will be really, really long, too!


	8. Potions Again

You Don't Love Me

Chapter Eight

A/N: Alright, I know this isn't going to go up within this week because ff.net got mad at me and won't let me post for a while, but this is going to be really long! (I hope) 

Oh shootI have a problem. I'm not sure if this is going to end up as a Hermione/Draco story or a Hermione/Ron story. Will you guys read it either way?

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Come to think of it, neither do I own Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, or anyone in this story, for that matter. Well, that should take care of the disclaimer. Anything else? Oh yeah, the story, right, here goes.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, Hermione went down into the common room. She wasn't that hungry and she had no intention of seeing Ron or Draco for as long as humanly possible, which didn't prove to be long, seeing as how they had Care of Magical Creatures and Potions today. 

She watched everyone leave, and when Ginny came down to go she told her she wasn't hungry and had to work on something before Potions. Ginny looked reproachful to leave her alone, but Hermione made sure she left. 

In an empty common room she laid back on the coach and sighed, trying to get her facts straight. She could no longer distinguish what had happened in the dream from what hadn't happened. 'I think Ron broke up with Lavender, but that can't be right because last night was the Ball, or was it the night before?' After a while of thinking, and not getting anywhere, she decided just to go by whatever happened. 

The bell rang for first period and she picked up her book bag and swung it over her shoulder. 

As she walked through the portrait and started emerging down the first set of stairs she realized how much later than everyone else she would be and started running. 

Three minutes later she was running down the dungeon stairs and tripped over her own feet, tumbling the rest of the way down the stairs, her ink smashing and soaking all of her many books with blue ink. 

"Great! Perfect!" she said, getting up and bending over to pick all of her books and quills up. She went to pick up _Magical Drafts and Potions_ and found another hand on top of it. She looked up at it's owner and found herself staring into Draco's cool, silver pools. 

"Let me get that for you," he said, not taking her eyes off of hers.

They both stood up, not blinking, and stared into each other's eyes. Hermione stood, transfixed, and not sure what was real at all. 'Am I dreaming or not?' she asked herself slowly. 

"Thank you," she murmured, taking the book from him. After a second more Draco nodded and tore his eyes away from hers, going back into the dungeon. Hermione stared after him, still wondering if that had happened or not, when she was jolted back to reality by the late bell. 

Picking up the last sodden book, she entered the dungeon, barely hearing Snape drawl, "Ten points from Gryffindor for being late, Miss Granger." She sat down next to Ron, and he looked at her strangely. 

"Hermione?" he whispered. 

She looked over at him. "What?" she asked, clearly not knowing.

"Aren't you mad at me?" he asked, a bit of what looked like hope shining in his eyes.

Hermione stopped. 'Am I? I thought they broke up and we were friends. Oh shoot! I guess I was wrong. What do I do now?'

"Well, I am still a bit upset, but you're my best friend, and I can't stay mad at you forever, even though I still think it was totally wrong what you did. But I love you Ron. As a friend, that is, and I don't think we were meant to be together anyway," 'Yeah right,' she thought, "so I can hardly blame you for going out with Lavender," she said quickly.

Ron looked immensely relieved. "Oh Hemione, thank you so much for not being mad at me! I know I was wrong, really, really, wrong, but I regretted it even more after I spoke to you last night. I didn't know what I was going to do! I thought, well, she's not gonna talk to me anymore.' And I knew that if that happened I wouldn't be able to live with myself, because, well, because I love you too. As a friend of course. Thank you so much Hermione!" At this he hugged her and Harry, sitting next to him, eyed them strangely.

Luckily Snape missed this, and chose this time to call out, " Good morning class, I'm assuming you all have done your homework and read chapter eighteen in _Magical Drafts and Potions_. Please get out your outlines and turn them in to me." 

Hermione laughed. 'This is going to be fun,' she thought, getting out her outline for a second time in her life which, thank the lord, was ink-free, aside from the writing, that is. 'My first ever fun Potions class.'

"Hermione, he didn't want 3 feet of parchment!" Harry whispered loudly across from Ron.

Hermione laughed again, repeating what she had said in her dream. "But I couldn't understand what he DID want, so I just gave him what I thought he might like!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Whatever" he sighed, taking out his 8 inch parchment. 

An hour later, while Harry and Hermione were working on their Cheer-up Potion, a yell erupted from the other side of the room, making Hermione and Harry look up in surprise.

"Longbottom! How many times must I tell you, the powdered newt goes in AFTER the shredded fig!" Draco yelled at Neville. Snape had paired them up for punishment for loosing Slytherin so many points so early in the year. 

"Oops," Neville sighed as the cauldron in front of him started emitting green sparks and sizzling. 

Snape ran over to where the two were stationed. "He put in the powdered newt first. 10 points from Gryffindor, Longbottom." He smirked, and walked off to criticize another group; Harry and Hermione. 

"Potter, your potion should be _red_, not pink! You didn't put enough ant legs in!" he said over Harry's shoulder, and walked over to Crabbe and Goyle's cauldron, which held a salmon pink liquid. 

"Good work, gentlemen, good work," he said in his suave voice, then went up to the front of the class.

"Jerk," she heard Harry whisper next to her and she smiled, and dumped in ant legs, the _first_ they had put in, and the potion turned a sizzling red. 

"So there," she said smugly. 

"Alright, clear away for a while when you are done, they must boil for a day until they are ready to drink. I want you all in here at break, understand?" 

Everyone nodded and murmured yes. Harry and Hermione walked to the back of the class with their bags and sat on the floor leaning on the back wall. 

"So," Harry said, looking at Hermione expectantly.

Hermione eyed him. "So _what_?" she asked.

Harry said. "Hermione, I know you wouldn't have forgiven Ron that easily. What made you do it?"

Hermione thought, trying to decide whether or not to tell him the truth. "Well, if you must know, it was because of a dream I had last night." 

"Oh," Harry said, looking confused. "Ok"

Hermione giggled. 

"And what's with Malfoy?" he asked, a bit loudly. "He keeps looking over at us! He must regret what he did now that he got in so much trouble for it! What a bugger"

Hermione ran her fingers through her bushy hair. "Harry, I think I need to tell you something," she said slowly, making sure that Ron and Parvati were still working on their potion. 

Harry came up closer to hear her.

"Malfoy didn't hit me," she said slowly.

Harry's eyes widened. "Don't tell me Ron did! I'll kill him!" he exclaimed, starting to raise to his feet.

"No, no!" Hermione stuttered, pulling him back down. "It was Lavender."

Harry looked confused. "What?" he asked. "Lavender hit you?" 

Hermione nodded. "Sheshe got mad at me cause I was listening in on their conversation, hers and Ron's, that is, and she called me a Mudblood and hit me." 

Harry looked shocked now. "Oh wow, Hermione, what are we gonna do?" he asked, realizing what she was going through. 

Hermione shrugged. "I don't knowIn my dream I told Snape, but then Lavender broke up with Ron for it. I don't know if that's what I want or not. I mean, I know that that's what I want, but I don't want Ron to be upset with me again," she said, "I told him I wouldn't tell anyone."

Harry was about to answer when Ron and Parvati came over, and the subject changed.

**********************************************************

A/N: Alright, at this point I am going to see if ff.net is going to let me post or not, so if it ends here, that's why, and if it keeps going, that's also why. I think this is going to turn Ron/Hermione, but if you all want me to keep the Draco/Hermione, just tell me, OK? If it does turn to Ron, then don't worry, Draco will end up with a happy ending, if that's what you're worried about. I have an idea for a much better Draco/Hermione story that I'll start after this, so just tell me: Ron or Draco?


	9. Parvati

You Don't Love Me

Chapter 9

A/N: Uh::ducks reviewers:: Ack! ::gets bombarded with reviews:: OK, OK! I'll do it! EVERYONE says it HAS to be D/H, so I am going to keep it D/H*sob* Which unfortunately means rewriting this whole chapter all over again, which is why it took so long to put up, OK? Thanks for reading, and, and, I'm SORRY! Don't hurt me for suggesting such a thing!

Disclaimer: Yeah, I own everything. (Kidding!)

"So, as I was saying, Quidditch blah blah blah blah blah" Ron said.

"Blah blah blah blah," agreed Harry.

Hermione and Parvati rolled their eyes.

Parvati smiled. "Come over here with me, Hermione," she said, eyeing the boys to make sure they were deep in their own world of Quidditch.

Hermione looked at her suspiciously, but Parvati just smiled and walked a couple feet away from the boys. Most of the class was done, but Draco and Neville, Lavender and Dean, and a couple other scattered pairs were still working. Hermione sighed and walked over to where Parvati was standing.

Parvati looked nervously at Lavender before starting. "Alright, Hermione, I know. Lavender told me everything."

Hermione gave her a questioning look. She sighed and continued in a whisper. "About Draco, I mean. I know you were cheating on Ron the whole time. I–"

"_What?!_" Hermione asked incredulously. "What are you talking about?! I _never_ cheated on Ron! Especially not with Malfoy!" She said this a bit too loudly, and Harry looked over at them a moment, then went back to his conversation.

Parvati looked like she had no intention of believing her. "Come on, Hermione, don't be sick. I think that's totally wrong of you to cheat on Ron like that."

Hermione was in a huff. "Alright, number one! I did NOT cheat on Ron. Number two: If I had, I would have had a darn good reason to, since he was cheating on ME the whole time. And Number three: Even if I had, why would you care?"

Parvati still looked suspicious. "Hermione, why are you lying to me?" she asked.

Hermione drew in a deep, calming breath. "Parvati, I am not lying to you. I did not cheat on Ron. I–wait a sec, who was it that told you this?"

Parvati looked scared. "Um, Lavender," she said quietly in an I-really-shouldn't-be-telling-you-this voice. 

Hermione buried her head in her hands. "Why is she out to get me?" she mumbled to herself, trying against everything not to scream out or attack Lavender like she wanted to. 

"What?" Parvati asked, "What do you mean? Why would Lavender be out to get you?"

Hermione glared at her from between her fingers. "You should know. She's YOUR best friend."

Parvati pondered on this a second. Then, with an understanding and suspicious look on her face, she asked, "Hermione, who did you say Ron had been cheating on you with?"

Hermione dropped her hands, and her jaw. For a moment she thought that Lavender hadn't even told her anything, and that she had been as innocent as Hermione had been the whole time. 'No' her brain shot back, 'She's lying. Don't let her manipulate you.' "Parvati, what on earth are you talking about?" 

Parvati looked embarrassed. "Hermione, you said Ron was cheating on you with someone, didn't you? Well, tell me whom? That's all I wanted to know" She looked down at her feet, with a blush creeping over her face. 

With a cry of frustration, Hermione whispered loudly (A/N: There it is again!), "You should know! She's YOUR best FRIEND!" And then she walked over to Harry and Ron.

"Blah blah blah," said Harry matter-of-factly. 

Hermione sighed and looked back over at Parvati. She was looking at the ground, a mixture of worry, sorrow, and fear on her face. At this, Hermione's eyes widened. 'Wait a sec,' she thought, 'What if she was telling the truth?'

She then looked over to where Draco was still working with Neville. Draco was extremely gorgeous, not to mention very clever (after Neville stopped helping their potion worked much better), but would she really even consider going with him. She smiled to herself. She already knew the answer: A plain and simple _NO_.

***

Yawning, Hermione got up off the chair she was stationed at doing her homework. It was around ten thirty, and they were in the Gryffindor common room. Ron and Harry were playing Exploding Snap, and nearly everyone else was doing their homework. This was on account of the lousy new DADA teacher, who gave them more homework than even Professor Snape himself. 

"He's insane," Ron mumbled for possibly the twentieth time that night. "Like we're going to be able to finish a two million word essay in only a week!"

Hermione blushed, and quickly hid her finished parchment from view. "Ron, watch out, you're going to–"

****

_BANG! _

"Too late," Hermione laughed, looking at Harry, who's eyebrows had been singed. She smiled happily at them. "I love Exploding Snap."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he sighed, pushing the charred remains of his card deck to the side of the table. "I guess we should get started on that essay then, eh?" He looked up at Hermione expectantly.

When she flushed, and looked away, Ron said, "No way have you finished it already! You've only been working on it a couple of hours!"

"I think I'm going to go up to bed now," Hermione said quickly, grabbing all of her stuff off of the table she had been working on. "Night Ron, night Harry!"

They both stared after her, speechless.

She ran up to her dorm and deposited all of her junk on top of her night table before plopping down on her bed. She laid back against the feather pillow and sighed again. 'Why me?' she thought. 'Lavender's spreading rumors about me, Draco's in trouble because of me, Ron cheated on me, now what?' She closed her eyes, not wanting to know the answer.

The sweet melody that is sleep soon came over her, and as she was drifting off to sleep, one of her roommates decided to burst in, making her lose any idea of sleep that she had. 

"Hermione!" the girl squealed, running from the doorway to her bed, slamming the door behind her. "Get up! We have to talk!"

Hermione yawned and looked up at the girl, trying to find out who it was. "Oh, hello Parvati. What do you want?"

Parvati looked down at her, trying to find the right words. "Um, Hermione, I just wanted you to know that I had NO IDEA that Lavender and Ron had been going out that whole time, Lavender never told me ANYTHING, I swear. I just don't want you to be mad at me, because I thought we were friends, you know? Lavender, you, and me. But I guess I was wrong about Lavender. She just told Ron about, about you and Draco. No, I know you didn't do it!" she said, as Hermione was about to protest. "But Ron thinks you did. I'm sorry, Hermione. I just–I didn't know that Lavender was such a bitch!" At this the girl broke in to sobs. 

Hermione stared, open-mouthed at her. She didn't know what to say. She believed her, of course, but she didn't want to. Lavender was such a jerk, though, it wasn't fair to anyone to fall into her net of lies. She sighed. "I believe you, Parvati," she said slowly.

Parvati looked up at her. "Thank you so much, Hermione, I don't know what I would have done if you didn't!" she said, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "I am so ashamed to say that Lavender was my best friend! I thought we were all friends, but Lavender was lying to us both the whole time! I just, I don't know what to do"

Hermione smiled at her. "I do," she said simply. "Do you want to hang out with Harry, Ron, and I?"

Parvati smiled, tears of happiness in her eyes. "Would I ever, but I don't think Ron's going to be hanging around you anymore. Not if he believes Lavender's lie, which I'm sure he did, judging by the look on his face when I left. I–"

She stopped suddenly, as crashing footfalls could be heard climbing the girl's staircase. A moment later, the dormitory door burst open again, and this time Ginny was standing there, looking quite pissed off indeed. "Explain," she said simply.

Hermione narrowed her eyes questioningly. 

Ginny looked frustrated. "Alright, Hermione, don't play stupid with me! I know you cheated on my brother! I can't believe you got so upset at him when you were doing the same thing! And with Malfoy! I don't believe you, Hermione, you're a disgrace!" She looked like she was close to tears, yet she kept a firm face.

Hermione, tears running down her face, screamed back, "I DID NOT CHEAT ON RON! I LOVE HIM! I WOULD NEVER, EVER DO THAT TO HIM! NEVER! DON'T BELIEVE THE CRAP LAVENDER'S TELLING EVERYONE! I DID NOT CHEAT ON HIM!"

Ginny looked scared, but then realization struck her. "Malfoy didn't hit you, did he?" she asked suddenly.

Hermione shook her head.

"Thenthen it was Lavender, wasn't it?"

Hermione nodded again, making both Parvati and Ginny gasp. "She hit me, and blamed it on Malfoy. Ron came to me last night and told me not to tell anyone. I love him, and I don't want to see him hurt, so I told him I would keep the secret but, but this is way too much. I don't love Lavender, and I don't think Ron deserves her either. I'm fed up with this. I think I'll tell Professor McGonagall tomorrow."

"You better!" Ginny and Parvati shot at the same time, then looked at each other and laughed.

"Ginny, Lavender lied to Parvati, too. She didn't even know Ron and Lavender were going out. Parvati wants to hang out with us from now on. Is that alright?"

Ginny looked more than happy about this. "Of course it's all right!" she said, hugging Parvati. "Let's make an 'I Hate Lavender Brown' club!" 

They all laughed, and soon Ginny left, and Parvati went over to her bed and sat down. "I'm glad you're here for me, Parvati," Hermione said.

"Me too," Parvati said, and turned off the light. 

*******

A/N: All right! There's chapter nine! Please review! I love y'all! 


	10. Draco

You Don't Love Me

Chapter 10

A/N: Eekness! You people scare me! Lol, sorry, but it's true! I PROMISE I WILL KEEP IT DRACO/HERMIONE, OK?!?!?!?! I PROMISE!!!!!!!!!!!!! ::Pants:: Alright, that said, here's chapter 10.

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to meI am poor and sick and dead and I have legos in my hair and a trench coat anddo I have to continue?

Next day Hermione woke a bit before dawn, deciding what she first had to do. 'Of course!' she thought happily, kicked off her blanket, quickly got dressed, and ran out of the girl's dorm. Once in the common room, she ran up another flight of stairs, to the boys' dormitories, until she reached the 5th year's dormitory. 

She stopped in front of the door, unsure whether to knock or walk right in. She didn't want to see any of the guys in their underwear, or worse, but she didn't want to wake any of them up either. Sighing heavily, she reached for the handle and wrenched it open.

Luckily, no one was even awake yet. She let out a breath, and walked in quietly, shutting the door behind her with a small _click_. She walked straight over to Harry's bed and tore back the curtains slowly. He was still asleep, with his black hair absolutely everywhere; he hadn't cut it in a while. She poked him in the side.

"Mmmh" he said lazily, and turned over.

She poked him again. "Just one more minute, Aunt Petunia."

She smiled evilly. "Get up, boy!" she said in a whiny voice.

Harry's eyes fluttered open, and he looked around him for a second before seeing Hermione.

"Hermione!" he said in a whisper. "What are you doing here? You're not aloud–"

"Shh!" Hermione demanded, covering his mouth with her hand. "Get dressed and meet me in the common room as soon as you're done. Hurry!" And with that, she flung the curtain out of her way and walked out of the room. 

Five minutes later, Harry emerged from the boys' staircase to find Hermione pacing back and forth in front of the newly lit fire.

"Hermione, what are you–"

"Shh! Let me talk!" she whispered, and stopped pacing to look at him. 

He raised his eyebrows. 

"I need to know exactly what Lavender told Ron last night."

Harry was suddenly wide-awake. "You _did_ do it, didn't you? That's why you forgave Ron so easily, and that's why you didn't cry so much! That's what you and Parvati were talking about! Hermione, I can't believe–"

"Shut up, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, making him stop. She looked at him with an extremely serious expression and said, "I did not cheat on Ron. I love Ron with all my heart, as a friend, of course, and I would never cheat on him. You have to believe me. I would never do that, and especially not with _Malfoy_."

Then Harry understood. "Of course, I get it now. Stupid Lavender strikes again, eh?"

Hermione sighed, and collapsed onto a nearby chair. "That's the way it seems. Now tell me everything she said."

Harry sat down in a chair across from her and began. "Well, after you left, Lavender ran over and sat down next to Ron and me, and I kind of got really uncomfortable because I knew Ron and Lavender had been lying to me, and I didn't want to believe it. Lavender kind of looked around at everyone in the common room, and smiled at Parvati, and then said to Ron, 'I just found out some really terrible news.' I kind of leaned in closer to hear what was going on. 'Hermione and Draco Malfoy are going out, and have been ever since the end of last year.' My eyes widened. I didn't want to believe it, and I guess I should have listened to that instinct, but I didn't. Ron, however, laughed. 'Yeah right,' he had said, 'Like Hermione and Malfoy would ever go out. Who told you that?' Lavender got this really evil looking smile on her face and said, 'Parvati heard from her sister, Padma, who heard from Pansy Parkinson. Pansy's all upset about it, 'cause she just found out as well.' Then Ron started to believe her. She weighed him down with all these reasons and all these things that she obviously made up, and sucked Ron and me and whoever else was listening into believing her. When Ron yelled out in frustration, that was when Parvati looked at Lavender and said, 'I thought you were my friend, you miserable lying bitch.' And ran out. I don't remember much else that happened, but I do remember about a minute later, Ginny stormed off saying, 'Hermione has some explaining to do!'. That's all I remember."

Hermione sighed. "Great!" she said, running her fingers through her hair. "Could my life get any better?"

Harry looked comfortingly at her. "I'm sorry, Hermes, I really am. Is there any way I can help?"

Hermione smiled. "Well, I kind of have this plan of revenge, but I don't really know if it's worth it at all. If I tell Ron the truth, and I get him to believe me, then Lavender and Ron will break up, and Ron will probably want me again. But I don't want Ron anymore. I thought I did, and I know I loved him that way a couple days ago, but after all the crap he's put me through, I don't think I can do it. I want revenge on Lavender."

"And how are you planning to get this?"

Hermione smiled again. "I have no idea," she said simply.

Harry looked stunned. "Why do you look so happy about this?"

"Because I know someone who will have a perfect idea." And then she got up and went up to her room. 

Harry sighed. 'What is she planning? Do I want to know?' 'No' he told himself, 'Of course not'

*************************

Hermione laughed. She was going just a little bit insane, and Lavender was really starting to get on her nerves. 'What a stupid miserable little' she thought to herself, watching Lavender get up and go down to the showers. She grabbed her book bag and went back down to the common room.

Harry wasn't there anymore, and she was thankful. The early hours of dawn were creeping in, and a pale light was beginning to fall through the windows. She sat at the table she had sat at the night before, got out a quill, ink, and a piece of parchment and began to write a letter.

Half an hour later, when Harry came back down, Hermione smiled. She finished the letter, signing her name, and said goodbye to Harry, who just looked at her like she was insane, which, I'm telling you, she was. 

She ran up to the Owlery, borrowed one of the school owls (she didn't want to use Hedwig because she would stick out too much) and gave it the letter and instructions to drop it off at breakfast. She smiled evilly again and ran down to the Great Hall, just as the sun was beginning to give off it's real light.

"Hey Hermione," said Harry, as she sat down next to him. "Been up to the Owlery, I see."

Hermione raised a brow. "How can you tell?" she asked.

Harry picked a feather off of her shoulder and one out of her hair. "I just know," he said, and winked. 

Hermione snorted. "Sure Harry, OK." She poured herself some orange juice, and loaded her plate with sausages, eggs, bacon, toast, and everything else. Conspiracies gave her an appetite. 

A few minutes later, more people started to arrive. Hermione kept looking over her head, waiting for the owls to arrive. Nearly half an hour later, a fluttering above her head told her they had. 

She smiled as she watched the owl she had picked out, fly over the Slytherin table and drop the owl right in front of Malfoy. Mission accomplished.

*************************

A/N: Yes, it is an extremely short chapter. I'm sorry! I'll be lucky if I can post itmy stupid AOL isn't working right STILL. Alright, well, thanks a lot for reading, next chapter will be up soon!


	11. The Deal

You Don't Love Me

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to meI swear it!

A/N: *bows down to all readers* I am shamed! I do not deserve any reviews for this chapter! I have not written more to this for MONTHS! I AM SO SORRY! SORRY! *Bows again* You can yell at me forever! I cannot stress enough how sorry I am! I want you all to like me again, so here is one extra long beautiful chapter dedicated to all that have been reading this story! And I just realized that this day is supposed to be Saturday, but let's pretend like it's Friday, and Halloween had been on a Wednesday, OK?

Draco looked down at the letter that had just fallen into his eggs. He raised a brow, slowly pulling it off of them. He picked it up, and read the front. _It was from Hermione._ He looked wildly up at her, and found her looking at him as well, and she looked away quickly, pretending to be submerged in a conversation with Harry, who was looking quite clueless.

Crabbe looked over his shoulder to see what he had gotten. "Another letter from home?" he asked stupidly, trying to pry it out of his hands.

"No! Let go, Crabbe!" Draco said hurriedly, yanking the letter out of his hands and shoving it down the front of his robes.

"Then who's it from?" asked Pansy, who was sitting across from him, absolutely fawning over him.

"None of your business," he mumbled, getting up from the table and walking quickly away from them.

Crabbe and Goyle looked strangely at each other, wondering for a moment whether or not to follow him. But they hadn't eaten yet, and the food in front of them was just begging to be eaten, so they stayed.

Draco mumbled to himself until he was out in the entrance hall about the privacy he deserved. Suddenly he realized how stupid he must look, mumbling to no one in particular, and stopped. He sighed, and took out the letter as he walked over to the marble staircase and sat down to read:

__

Malfoy,

First of all, I am sorry about the whole Lavender thing. I know you must be furious at me for not telling anyone the truth, but I promised Ron I wouldn't. If you want to, you can tell Professor Snape or someone, if anyone asks me, I won't lie. Go ahead and tell.

Second of all, I think you should know that Lavender has started spreading rumors about the two of us that I am not to pleased with, and I am positive you would hate. Ron is pissed at me because apparently I have been cheating on him this whole time with you. 

This all leads up to the real reason I wrote this letter: revenge. I want sweet revenge on Lavender, and I know you want it, too, so don't lie. I know you hate me and everything, but, I thought that maybe we could do this together, you know, get back at her at the same time. You know, a chance to prove your innocence, and to give her what she deserves? I can already see you smiling.

The trouble isI don't have a plan. That's where you come in. I need your snobbery and expertise. Meet me in the library at 3:30. I'll be waiting.

Yours Truly,

Hermione Granger

Draco looked up quickly as the door to the Great Hall opened up. Hermione was standing there, smiling maniacally.

Draco stood up, a smile playing on his lips as well. "So, Miss Know-It-All, Follow-All-School-Rules-Or-Die-Trying wants to do something potentially dangerous and life-threatening to another student? And, even worse, she wants to get her worst enemy to help her?"

Hermione's smile just got bigger and more insane. "Don't even pretend like your not intrigued, Malfoy. You know you want to get out of those 50 points from Slytherin and double detention."

"I could get myself out of that mess. I don't need your help."

"Yeah, but what about Lavender's rumors?"

"I don't give a damn what the rest of the school thinks about me."

Hermione started looking panicked. "B-but, you have to help me!"

Draco seemed to enjoy seeing her panic. "And what's in it for me, exactly?"

Hermione raised a brow at him. "You're not serious"

"Oh yes, yes I am. I happen to have a great plan, but I wouldn't just carelessly give it to you, now, would I?"

Hermione looked crushed. "I don't have any money," she sighed.

Draco laughed out loud. "I don't want your money, Granger. I want" he stopped abruptly as Fred and George Weasley came bounding out of the Great Hall, and ran straight past Draco and Hermione, running up the marble staircase, taking no notice of them whatsoever.

Hermione and Draco glanced at each other with weird expressions, then both burst out laughing at the same time. 

"Yeah, that was just a little bit strange" Hermione laughed, relaxing a little.

Draco smiled. Hermione was actually a pretty cool person. He gazed at her.

Hermione suddenly realized what he was doing. "UhDraco? What was it that you said you wanted?" she asked, trying to snap him back to reality.

"Uh" he said slowly, suddenly turning a bright shade of magenta. "I–"

That was when the bell rang. Draco walked off quickly, grateful to get out of answering. He had almost told her exactly what he wanted. The results of what would happen if that ever got out would be disastrous. He quickened his pace as he realized she was following him. 

"Draco!" she called, then stopped pursuing him, staring after him as he walked down the corridor.

Draco rounded a corner and took a passage to the right, and suddenly was in the Charms hallway. He quickly sat down outside of Professor Flitwick's classroom and rested his head in his hands. He shut his eyes tight, trying to block out the tears. 'What is _wrong_ with me?!'

**********************************************************

Hermione sighed, watching Draco walk out of sight. She shook her head sadly. _What_ did he want? She would just have to wait till three thirty to find outthat is, if he showed up. 

As hundreds of people swarmed out of the Great Hall, Hermione turned around and waited for Parvati. Harry had said he would talk to Ron for her, so Parvati and Hermione were not to wait for them to go to Transfiguration. 

She spotted Parvati sandwiched between a group of third year Ravenclaws, and called out to her. 

"Excuse me," she said as politely as she could manage to the third years, and pushed pass them to get at Hermione.

Hermione giggled. "There are too many people at this place," she said, and they both agreed. They joined the steady flow of people that went up the marble staircase and then thinned out in both directions. Hermione and Parvati, and the rest of the Gryffindors went left. 

"Harry and Ron are talking," Parvati whispered excitedly, turning around to look.

Hermione turned around as well. Sure enough, Harry was whispering in Ron's ear. Looking around further she saw that Lavender was well out of ear shot, talking to Seamus Finnegan with a flirty look in her eye.

Parvati noticed this as well. She suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Parvati and Seamus had started going out about a week before the Halloween Ball.

"So, are you in? I figured we could hang out in the Three Broomsticks together for a little while, and then maybe spend a little time up by the Shrieking Shack" Lavender was saying to Seamus as they walked by.

Parvati's mouth dropped open. Hermione's did, as well.

"Um, Lavender? I _am_ going out with Parvati, you know."

Hermione poked Parvati in the back so she would start moving so that they could continue listening.

"Oh, you don't _know_?" Lavender asked, and Hermione and Parvati recognized that evil glint in her eye.

"Know what?" Seamus asked. He looked scared.

"Well, I don't know if it's my place to be telling you this, but Parvati and Harry Potter have been"

Seamus stopped dead. "Have been what?" he demanded.

"Well, you know" Lavender smiled innocently. "I am so sorry, Seamus."

Parvati stared in hatred at Lavender. 

"You lying son of a b*tch!" she screamed at Lavender, walking straight up to her. 

Lavender looked alarmed. "Parvati!" she said, a bogus hurt expression on her face. "How could you say that?"

"I heard what you just told my boyfriend, asshole, and I know what you told me about Hermione and Draco is crap, too!"

Seamus and Hermione were both staring with shocked expressions. Parvati would normally never have done anything of the sort, especially in front of all the Gryffindors and a lot of other people.

"You are a fake, and a phony, and you have been lying to everyone! Tell them the truth!"

By now everyone had stopped to stare.

Lavender seemed at a loss for words. Harry and Hermione both had bemused looks on their faces. Lavender gaped at them all, forming nonsense words with her mouth.

Seamus smiled. "I'm sorry, Lavender, I don't think I'll ever be able to make it to Hogsmeade with you. My _girlfriend _and I will be busy that weekend. And _every weekend after that._ Good day."

And with that he grabbed Parvati's arm and walked off in the direction of Transfiguration.

Hermione smiled up at Lavender. "Gee, Lavender, it looks like your little plan didn't exactly work, now, did it? I suppose this means Draco and I aren't "going out" anymore?" 

Lavender just continued standing there, trying to explain, but making no noise.

Ron walked right up to Lavender, leaned in as if to kiss her, and said, "We're through."

Then him and Harry walked off as well, and Hermione followed them. Soon the rest of the congregation moved down the hall as well. Lavender, however, just stood there until there was no one left. Then she ran to the common room and cried.

**********************************************************

The last class Hermione had on Friday's was Arithmancy. As soon as the bell rang at 3:00, she ran straight toward the library, wanting to get there early unless Draco turned up right after class as well.

She dumped all of her things on a table and took out her Arithmancy book, so she could work on her homework while waiting for him. But she didn't have to wait long.

Draco walked up to her table only a couple of seconds after she had opened the book.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked of the seat across from her.

"Of course not," Hermione smiled, and closed her book again, shoving it in her back, and dropping the bag on the floor next to them.

Draco smiled, a business-like look on his face. "What exactly do you want to do to her? Have Weasley dump her? Show the whole school how stupid she is?" He folded his hands in his lap.

Hermione frowned. "Parvati already did both those things this morning. She was flirting with her boyfriend and Parvati let everyone on the third floor know about all the lying she had been doing. What I really want is to get back at Lavender personally. I don't mean tell everyone the truth, but I don't mean spread some stupid rumor about her to get her into trouble with her friends. I wantI want"

She trailed off, looking at Draco curiously.

He had his head in his hands, and he seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"Draco?"

He let out a breath and swallowed, looking up at her. "S-sorry" he mumbled, looking embarrassed. 

She continued to look questioning. "What's wrong?"

He tried to smile. "Nothing. I'm fine. Don't ask what's wrong," he said, and regained his business-like composure.

Hermione raised a brow, but said, "Ok"

"Ok, you want her to be embarrassed basically, correct?"

Hermione looked somewhat relinquished. "When you say it like that, it doesn't sound diabolical at all."

"Oh, you want something diabolical?"

Hermione nodded.

"Well, don't ask me! If you want something diabolical, you should ask the Weasley twins. They're the ones that are diabolical, not me."

Hermione sighed. "I suppose you're right. I just wanted to get you in on this."

Draco looked at her with no expression for a second. "I want to get back at her, too," he said finally.

Hermione smiled again. "So you'll help me?"

Draco nodded. "On one condition."

"What's that?" she asked.

"I want to be your friend." 


	12. The Aftermath

You Don't Love Me Chapter 12 By Autumn Took  
  
A/N: Heya! Summer vacation, figure I'd write some more...I know you all probably hate me, or aren't going to read this because you're mad at me anyway. I can only say how terribly sorry I am! I haven't written anything but poetry for such a long time! I'm SO SORRY! I hope you enjoy this, and I hope I keep writing for you.  
  
Hermione stared, transfixed at Draco, who looked serious enough, though he had just spoken nonsense. "My friend, Draco? That's what you want?"  
Draco sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "Yes, Granger, that's what I want......I want companionship......I want to be happy......I want to wake up in the morning knowing that there's someone there that cares about me and knows me and likes me for who I am......I want what you have, what Weasley and Potter have. I want a friend."  
Hermione was confused. "But......don't you have......what of Pansy? And Crabbe and Goyle?"  
Draco waved his hand impatiently. "Pansy? She only likes me because of my name. All she wants is to marry me and become filthy rich. And, please, she doesn't know me. Crabbe and Goyle are too stupid to comprehend something as complex as feelings, and I could never confide in them, lest they tell their parents and my father found out." Draco bit his bottom lip here and looked down.  
"My father wouldn't understand. He would kill me if he knew I was talking to you like this now. He doesn't want me to be happy. He wants me to be just like him." Draco looked up at Hermione, fresh tears in his eyes. "I don't want to be a Death Eater, Hermione! I don't want to work under the Dark Lord, and I don't want to kill innocent people. I'm sick and tired of trying to be like him, trying to please him, to make him happy. I won't work for Voldemort, and I won't be miserable for him. I just...I just want to be happy......and I don't think I ever will be."  
With that, Draco got quickly up from the table, grabbed his bag, and ran out of the library. Madame Pince stared after him, overcome with abhorrence at him for having disturbed her library.  
Hermione stared after him for a few seconds, trying to understand all of this. It just didn't make sense......Draco—horrible, nasty, evil Draco—didn't want to be that way? Didn't want to be like his father? Didn't want Mudbloods killed? It was all so confusing. Hermione sighed, picking up her book bag, and stumbled out of the library, trying to sort out her thoughts. Outside she found Professor McGonagall talking to Draco.  
"Tonight, astronomy tower, scrubbing the floors." Hermione caught her say. It was then that she realized she hadn't told anyone that Draco was innocent. 'Better now than never', she thought, and ran up to Professor McGonagall.  
"Professor McGonagall, I need to tell you something."  
Professor McGonagall looked a bit annoyed at being interrupted while punishing Malfoy. "What is it, Miss Granger?"  
"Well," she said, giving Draco a meaningful glance. Draco looked astonished. "I think it would interest you to know that Malfoy here is innocent. As I tried to tell you last night in the hospital wing, it was not him that hit me last night. It was Miss Brown. She's been spreading all kinds of horrible rumors about people lately and she really needs to be punished. Draco doesn't deserve the detention, or the points from Slytherin. If anything, I deserve them, for not speaking up sooner."  
Professor McGonagall looked bewildered. "Is this true?" she asked Malfoy, who nodded. "I didn't say anything because I knew you wouldn't believe me."  
Professor McGonagall nodded. "I see. Well, unfortunately I cannot cancel your detention tonight, Malfoy, but I can have Miss Granger join you. You'll understand, right Miss Granger?"  
Hermione nodded. "I'd be more than happy to help." She winked at Draco and he smiled, a disbelieving smile.  
"I shall, however, cancel your second detention and give you your points back. I am sorry to have blamed you in the first place."  
"No worries, Professor, an honest mistake. I blame Lavender completely," said Draco.  
Professor McGonagall turned to Hermione. "In that case, I'd like both of you to report to the astronomy tower at eight o'clock tonight, after dinner. I trust you both to stay out of trouble; I assume I don't need to watch over you if both of you are innocent." At this she smiled. "Thank you, Miss Granger, for standing up for your enemy. It shows true responsibility and courage." And with that she left them in the hallway, to look oddly upon one another in silence.  
"Th-thank you," Draco managed, looking down at the floor. "I guess I'll see you at eight o'clock." And then he left as well.  
Hermione shook her head, watching him leave, and then walked off to her dormitory to deposit her stuff on her bed.  
  
Back in the Gryffindor common room, everything was pandemonium. Parvati and Seamus were in a corner, kissing themselves numb, Ron was busy yelling at Lavender some more, who was in tears, Harry and Ginny were fighting as well, though both seemed happy about it, and the rest of the common room was either listening to Ron and Lavender argue, or discussing the next Hogsmeade trip loudly in groups.  
Hermione made her way as quiet as possible through the crowd and to the edge of the girl's dormitory stairs. She began ascending them, two at a time, and was nearly to her dormitory when a girl's voice behind her squeaked, "Hermione!"  
She opened her door and dropped her stuff on the floor before turning around to talk to Ginny. "What is it, Ginny?" she asked in an inquiring tone.  
"Ron and Lavender broke up, huh?" Ginny said, catching up to Hermione and walking past her into her dormitory. Hermione smiled and followed her in, falling back onto her bed.  
"Yup, isn't it great? What's going on down there, anyway? What are Ron and Lavender yelling about?"  
Ginny rolled her eyes, sitting down next to Hermione. "Well, Lavender is trying to convince Ron that she's innocent, that you really are going out with Draco. Ron's got the right idea, though, he knows that the thought of you and Draco is laughable! I mean, you can't even TALK to the guy without yelling, you know? How could you like, KISS him and stuff? Lavender seems to think that you've been covering up for the past year, that you've liked him for quite some time now......she's crazy, I'm telling you!"  
Hermione sighed. "Good, she's only embarrassing herself more. No one's going to believe that......I hope."  
Ginny laughed. "As if! Everyone knows that you and Malfoy hate each other! No one's going to believe that unless all of a sudden you started talking to each other and hanging out and stuff, and we all know THAT'S not going to happen anytime soon!"  
Hermione pretended to laugh along with Ginny. Things just kept getting more and more complicated. Now what was she going to do? If she started hanging out with Draco and becoming his friend, everyone would think that Lavender was telling the truth and Ron would never speak to her again. On the other hand, she couldn't just let Draco suffer and think that she was a bad friend. She was, yet again, in a right fix. Nothing ever seemed to go her way.  
"Well, we best be off for dinner, don't you think? I'm starving!" Hermione said, and Ginny agreed. The two of them made their way down the staircase and slinked slowly past the rest of the house.  
Lavender was crying loudly. "Isn't there anyone here that can recognize the truth when they see it?!" she positively shrieked.  
"I think that's why no one believes you, Lavender, is because we can all recognize the truth," Ron spat bitterly, and everyone burst out laughing. Hermione and Ginny stifled their giggles until they reached the portrait hole.  
They laughed as they ran down staircase after staircase, until finally coming out into the entrance hall. The Great Hall was closed still; dinner was not yet ready, so they collapsed onto the wall and sank to the floor, laughing still.  
Sighing, Hermione turned to Ginny and smiled. "I'm glad you guys believe me. I hate to think what might have happened if anyone believed Lavender."  
Ginny looked at her as if she was crazy. "Are you kidding? It only takes a little bit of common sense to know that Lavender was lying! A Slytherin and a Gryffindor? She's nuts! She could have at least made it a bit more believable!"  
At that moment Draco appeared across the entrance hall, emerging from his dungeon common room, flanked with Crabbe and Goyle on either side.  
"Oh look," said Ginny tauntingly. "It's the devil himself."  
Hermione sighed, staring across the hall to Draco, who stared back. He gave her a small smile he made sure no one could see, and then resumed his usual sneer.  
"Well if it isn't little Miss Weasel and dear Miss Granger," he drawled, as usual.  
The doors to the Great Hall burst open as he said this. He smiled and bowed deeply, as if he were a house elf. "Please, after you," he said, and Hermione couldn't tell whether he was trying to be mean or nice.  
"No, no, no, ladies first," Ginny said, and stepped out of the way for Malfoy to enter.  
Draco looked at her in disgust. "Damn, Weasel, no need to get all offended. Just trying to be courteous." And he pushed past them both, Crabbe and Goyle sniggering stupidly.  
"What is his problem?" Ginny asked, looking at him in hatred. "I hope Harry kills him in the next Quidditch match." She, too, entered the hall. Hermione sighed, watching Draco seat himself at the Slytherin table, and followed Ginny in. Life was just too confusing for her. 


	13. Friends?

You Don't Love Me Chapter 13 By Autumn Took  
  
A/N: Thank you for the few that reviewed me. You guys rock! I'm glad someone's reading this......Croaker and Tom Felton's Chica, thank you very much! I'm glad you like it.......I used to have a lot of fans, before I stopped writing for many, many months. Maybe people will still read it...who knows?  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything......I wish I owned a certain blonde someone......but we all know that's impossible.......so, no, I don't own anything.......all characters, places, etc. belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.  
  
Eight o'clock that night couldn't come any faster. She was eager to talk to Draco, eager to find out more about what was going on, yet scared all the same of what people would think. At seven forty-five she left the common room, saying goodbye to Ginny and Parvati (Harry and Ron were playing Wizard's Chess in the corner, taking no notice of their surroundings whatsoever), and made her way up to the astronomy towers.  
She walked with her head down, contemplating everything that had happened in the space of the past three days. She thought of Ron, and how he had lied to her and betrayed her totally, yet how she had forgiven him straight away, not capable of being mad at him for very long. She thought of Harry, and smiled, remembering how much he had already helped her, and making a mental note of thanking him when she returned. She thought of Parvati, and how the poor girl had been just as confused as Hermione, and smiled, knowing she had a new friend waiting for her in the common room. She thought of Lavender, and a million hateful things came to mind. She smirked, remembering how Parvati had taken care of HER earlier, and let out a laugh as well, knowing Lavender would still be more miserable than ever she imagined. Then she thought of Draco.  
Hermione stopped somewhere along the third floor corridor, crossing to a nearby window to look out at the moon. 'Draco,' she thought, a butterfly flying around in her stomach. She blushed a bit, as she imagined the moon turning into one of his eyes. It was, after all, the same beautiful silver-grey. He was handsome, she had to admit, and quite built, to say the least. The only problem she had ever had with him was his attitude, and the fact that he seemed to hate her guts. Unfortunately for her, (or fortunately, she couldn't really tell which) that problem had vanished lately. Draco was friendly...nice, even, and that was simply not normal Malfoy behavior.  
Hermione sighed as footsteps echoed behind her. She looked down to her feet, trying to sort out how she felt about Draco. So many thoughts echoed throughout her head, whirling around, clashing and smashing each other. Finally, she decided, she would just have to wait and see.  
"Hermione?" said a soft voice right in her ear.  
She jumped backwards and let out a small scream, tripping over the hem of her robes and falling to the stone floor. Panting, she looked up at who had scared her.  
"Sorry," Draco mumbled, leaning over to help her up.  
For a moment Hermione just stared at his hand, outstretched and waiting. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a panicky voice.  
Draco raised a brow. "Walking to our detention, Hermione," he said slowly, as if Hermione was slow.  
Hermione considered this for a second, then felt a blush creep onto her face as she took hold of Draco's hand. "Oh......right......."  
Draco pulled her into a standing position and apologized again. Hermione shook her head, as if to say, "Not a problem," and then they both started walking in the direction of the astronomy tower.  
Neither of them said a word as they began ascending the many steps to the tower's top. As they reached the end, Draco opened the door for Hermione and beckoned her to go in first. Hermione stared at him as she passed, then waited for him to come in.  
Draco shut the door behind him, then turned around to look at Hermione's questioning face.  
"We need to talk, Draco," Hermione said matter-of-factly.  
Draco sighed, walking past her. "We need to clean the telescopes," he said, coming up to a closet on his right and opening the doors with a spell. The doors burst open, revealing rows and rows of telescopes in varying conditions of cleanliness.  
Hermione walked up to Draco and stared at his eyes, closing the door with her left hand. "Draco," she said again. "Please?"  
Draco stared back into her eyes for a second, then turned away, looking down. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked in an innocent voice.  
Hermione stepped closer to him, putting her hand comfortingly on his arm. His eyes immediately darted to it, a look of utter surprise on his face. He traced her arm with his eyes up to her shoulder, and up to her face, where a look of concern was blooming. She smiled when he looked into her eyes. "I want to talk about you, Draco."  
Draco felt his face redden under her beautiful gaze. He wouldn't admit to himself, but he thought she was divine. A real beauty, though she was Muggle-born. "Well......Is there really anything more to say about me? I'm a stuck-up pureblood git that's made your past four years here at Hogwarts simply unbearable. You hate me, and I supposedly hate you, and there's nothing I can do to change that."  
"But you have changed that," Hermione interjected. "I don't hate you anymore."  
Draco let out a little laugh. "Why not? I deserve it! I deserve much worse! No, Hermione, I won't allow you to be nice to me. You're too good for me." He tried to open the doors to the closet again, but she shut them just as quickly.  
"Draco, look at me," she said, moving so should stood in between him and the closet. Draco was busy staring at the floor. "Look at me, Draco."  
Draco slowly looked up to see her eyes piercing his. His face reddened again as she put her other hand on his other arm.  
She stared at him for a second, as if trying to decipher a code. "It's true, then?" she asked slowly. "All of it?"  
Draco nodded shyly. "I'm sick of all this bullshit," he swore softly. "I wish I wasn't pureblood. I wish I never wanted to be like my father. I wish that it would all go away. I just want to be happy." Though he knew that wasn't all he wanted, he would never tell her the rest.  
Hermione nodded, staring into his eyes still. "I understand......I think......I just don't know why you kept up this façade all these years."  
"Jesus, Hermione, with all the Slytherin's here, they all know my father in some way or another, do you think if I was anything less than exactly what he wanted me to be, that they wouldn't tell him? I don't want my father to hate me, I never have, but, the truth is, if I had to choose between his happiness and mine, at the moment, for once in my life I think I'd choose mine."  
Hermione nodded, understanding a bit more. "How come you didn't tell me earlier?"  
Draco blushed. "I didn't want to admit it to anyone. That Draco Malfoy wanted a friend. It's absurd, really. I mean, you didn't even believe me when I told you. I'm glad you came to me with the whole Lavender thing. If you hadn't I was......I was close to dealing with it in some other way......"  
Hermione stared at him for a second, trying to understand what he was saying. "Draco, you weren't going to kill yourself?"  
Draco looked slightly ashamed and sighed, looking away at last from Hermione's beautiful eyes. "So what if I was?" he asked, a bit of his old sass in his voice. "No one would have cared, except maybe Pansy. But she'd get over it soon enough, attach herself onto Higgins or somebody."  
  
"But your father......."  
"Would have been disappointed in me, not sad in the slightest," Draco finished for her. "My mother would have been upset, I suppose, but she would have gotten over it soon enough as well. As for the rest of the school, no one here likes me, you know that, you're one of the many that don't. I'm a jerk, I always have been, ever since the first day I stepped into this school. I suspect many of the Professors would have been glad to see me go as well."  
Hermione shook her head disbelievingly. "I would have cared, Draco, everyone would have cared. You're not going to, right?"  
Draco shrugged, looking around uncomfortably. "We'll see how things turn out."  
Hermione couldn't stop herself. Slytherin or not, Draco was a person too, and no person deserved to die. She flung her arms around him and engulfed him in the very first heartfelt hug Draco Malfoy ever received.  
Draco, shocked, pulled his hands slowly from his pockets where they had been resting and wrapped his strong arms around her as well. Overcome by emotion, he willed himself not to cry, and closed his eyes, enjoying the pleasant fragrance coming from Hermione's hair.  
"Please don't Draco, please don't. You don't have to hide it anymore, you have me, I'll be here for you always! No one deserves to be miserable, no one, and I'll see to it that you never have to be again!" she half sobbed into his shoulder, which muffled the sound.  
Draco smiled, and a tear fell out of one of his closed eyes. "I won't," he said, squeezing her tighter and then pulling away. He quickly wiped the tear off his face before looking at her and saying, "Thank you so much, Hermione. Thank you for giving me hope once more."  
Hermione smiled comfortingly. "Think nothing of it. I want to help. Friends?" She held out her hand, offering the first peace treaty between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin in a century or more.  
"Friends," Draco agreed, taking Hermione's hand in his and shaking it. They both smiled widely.  
"So......let's get started on those telescopes, shall we?" Hermione asked, walking over to the closet and pulling open the doors for the third time.  
"Yes, let's," Draco sighed happily, walking over to her and helping her take the first one out.  
  
A/N: I hope that's a bit better than the last chapter. I think I'll finally be getting back into the swing of things. Read and review, tell me what needs work, I'll try to fix it. Thank you for reading! Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon enough. 


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